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Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics Contemporary Debates in Philosophy Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics Contemporary Debates in Philosophy In teaching and research, philosophy makes progress through argumentation and debate. Contemporary Debates in Philosophy provides a forum for students and their teachers to follow and participate in the debates that animate philosophy today in the western world. Each volume presents pairs of opposing viewpoints on contested themes and topics in the central subfi elds of philosophy. Each volume is edited and introduced by an expert in the fi eld, and also includes an index, bibliography, and suggestions for further reading. The opposing essays, commissioned especially for the volumes in the series, are thorough but accessible presentations of opposing points of view. 1. Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Religion edited by Michael L. Peterson and Raymond J. Vanarragon 2. Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science edited by Christopher Hitchcock 3. Contemporary Debates in Epistemology edited by Matthias Steup and Ernest Sosa 4. Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics edited by Andrew I. Cohen and Christopher Heath Wellman 5. Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art edited by Matthew Kieran 6. Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory edited by James Dreier 7. Contemporary Debates in Cognitive Science edited by Robert Stainton 8. Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Mind edited by Brian McLaughlin and Jonathan Cohen 9. Contemporary Debates in Social Philosophy edited by Laurence Thomas 10. Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics edited by Theodore Sider, John Hawthorne, and Dean W. Zimmerman Forthcoming Contemporary Debates are in: Political Philosophy edited by Thomas Christiano and John Christman Philosophy of Biology edited by Francisco J. Ayala and Robert Arp Philosophy of Language edited by Ernie Lepore Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics Edited by Theodore Sider, John Hawthorne, and Dean W. Zimmerman © 2008 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Theodore Sider, John Hawthorne, and Dean W. Zimmerman to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. First published 2008 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2008 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Contemporary debates in metaphysics / edited by Theodore Sider, John Hawthorne, and Dean W. Zimmerman. p. cm. — (Contemporary debates in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4051-1228-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4051-1229-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Metaphysics. I. Sider, Theodore. II. Hawthorne, John (John P.) III. Zimmerman, Dean W. BD95.C66 2007 110—dc22 2007019836 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10 on 12.5 pt Rotis Serif by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed and bound in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd. The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website at www.blackwellpublishing.com Contents Notes on Contributors vii Introduction Theodore Sider 1 ABSTRACT ENTITIES 9 1.1 Abstract Entities Chris Swoyer 11 1.2 There Are No Abstract Objects Cian Dorr 32 CAUSATION AND LAWS OF NATURE 65 2.1 Nailed to Hume’s Cross? John W. Carroll 67 2.2 Causation and Laws of Nature: Reductionism Jonathan Schaffer 82 MODALITY AND POSSIBLE WORLDS 109 3.1 Concrete Possible Worlds Phillip Bricker 111 3.2 Ersatz Possible Worlds Joseph Melia 135 PERSONAL IDENTITY 153 4.1 People and Their Bodies Judith Jarvis Thomson 155 4.2 Persons, Bodies, and Human Beings Derek Parfi t 177 TIME 209 5.1 The Privileged Present: Defending an “A-Theory” of Time Dean Zimmerman 211 5.2 The Tenseless Theory of Time J. J. C. Smart 226 PERSISTENCE 239 6.1 Temporal Parts Theodore Sider 241 6.2 Three-Dimensionalism vs. Four-Dimensionalism John Hawthorne 263 FREE WILL 283 7.1 Incompatibilism Robert Kane 285 7.2 Compatibilism, Incompatibilism, and Impossibilism Kadri Vihvelin 303 MEREOLOGY 319 8.1 The Moon and Sixpence: A Defense of Mereological Universalism James Van Cleve 321 8.2 Restricted Composition Ned Markosian 341 METAONTOLOGY 365 9.1 Ontological Arguments: Interpretive Charity and Quantifi er Variance Eli Hirsch 367 9.2 The Picture of Reality as an Amorphous Lump Matti Eklund 382 Index 397 Contents vi Notes on Contributors Phillip Bricker is Professor and Head of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His interests range broadly over metaphysics, philosophical logic, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mathematics. John W. Carroll is Professor of Philosophy at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He works in the areas of metaphysics and the philosophy of science. His interests center on the topics of laws of nature, causation, explanation, and time travel. He is the author of Laws of Nature (Cambridge University Press, 1994) and such articles as “Ontology and the Laws of Nature” (Australasian Journal of Philoso- phy, 1987), “The Humean Tradition” (Philosophical Review, 1990), “Property-Level Causation?” (Philosophical Studies, 1991), and “The Two Dams and that Damned Paresis” (British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 1999). He is the editor of Readings on Laws of Nature (Pittsburgh University Press, 2004). Cian Dorr received his BA from University College Cork, and his PhD from the Uni- versity of Princeton, where he was a student of the late David Lewis. He is currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. Matti Eklund is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University. He has published articles in metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of logic. John Hawthorne is Waynfl ete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He is author of Metaphysical Essays (Clarendon Press, 2006), and has published widely in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, and Leibniz studies. Eli Hirsch is Professor of Philosophy at Brandeis University. He is the author of a number of works in metaphysics, including Dividing Reality (Oxford University Press, 1993). Robert Kane is University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is author of The Signifi cance of Free Will (Oxford University Press, 1996), Through the Moral Maze (Paragon House, 1994), A Contem- porary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford University Press, 2005) and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (2002), among other works in the philosophy of mind and ethics. Ned Markosian is a philosophy professor at Western Washington University. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, graduated from Oberlin College, and received a PhD from the University of Massachusetts. He has worked mainly on issues in the philoso- phy of time and the mereology of physical objects. Joseph Melia is a Reader in Metaphysics at the University of Leeds. His main interests are in modality, ontology, and the philosophy of physics. He is currently working on a book on ontology. Derek Parfi t was born in China in 1942 and received an undergraduate degree in Modern History at Oxford in 1964. Since 1967 he has been a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He has often taught in the United States, and is now a regular Visit- ing Professor to the Departments of Philosophy of Rutgers, New York University, and Harvard. His fi rst book, Reasons and Persons, was published by Oxford University Press in 1984. A second book, Climbing the Mountain, is nearly completed, and will also be published by Oxford University Press. This book will be about reasons and rationality, Kant’s ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism. Jonathan Schaffer is Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University. He works mainly in metaphysics and epistemology. Further information about his work may be found on his website: <http://philrss.anu.edu.au/people-defaults/ schaffer/index.php3/>. Theodore Sider is Professor of Philosophy at New York University. He has pub- lished articles in metaphysics and philosophy of language, is the author of Four- Dimensionalism (Oxford
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